[Amended 10-24-2006 ATM, Art. 23]
A.
Section 4-200 describes permanent multiple-member bodies of
the Town. The Town Meeting may establish additional permanent multiple-member
bodies of the town by the enactment of a bylaw amending this section
and creating said permanent multiple-member body. All bylaws establishing
permanent standing multiple-member bodies shall specify the following:
membership, term of office, authorities and responsibilities, and
interrelationships with both the Town Manager, the Board of Selectmen
and other agencies within the Town.
B.
The Town Meeting may from time to time, by a vote under a warrant
article, establish ad hoc multiple-member bodies to assist it in carrying
out its responsibilities. Ad hoc multiple-member bodies shall be limited
to a particular subject matter and shall serve only for a specific
period of time.
C.
The Board of Selectmen may from time to time establish ad hoc
multiple-member bodies to assist it in carrying out its responsibilities.
Ad hoc multiple-member bodies shall be limited to a particular subject
matter and shall serve only for a specific period of time.
[Amended 10-24-2006 ATM, Art. 23]
A.
Multiple-member bodies. The term for each office is three years,
unless otherwise provided. Appointments are effective on the first
day of July and expire on the 30th day of June or when a successor
has been appointed and qualified. The terms of office are arranged
so that 1/3 or as nearly as possible shall expire each year. A vacancy
shall be filled by the appointing authority for the remainder of the
unexpired term. The appointing authority shall annually evaluate all
persons subject to reappointment. Persons may be reappointed to successive
terms, but no member shall have a right to be reappointed. Members
of multiple-member bodies may be removed for cause, subject to an
investigation and hearing by the appointing authority, pursuant to
Charter Section 7-10, or for failure to regularly attend meetings
of the multiple-member body as provided in Charter Section 7-12.
B.
Town officers and officials. The terms of office of individual
town officers and other officials shall be for three years, unless
otherwise provided. A vacancy shall be filled by the appointing authority
for the remainder of the unexpired term. Appointments are effective
on the first day of July, and expire on the 30th day of June, or when
a successor has been appointed and qualified, provided, however, that
the Town Manager may extend said date for officers and officials that
the Town Manager appoints to a date not later than December 31 of
any given year. The appointing authority shall annually evaluate all
persons subject to reappointment. Persons may be reappointed to successive
terms, but no town officer or official shall have a right to be reappointed.
Town officers and other officials may be removed for cause, subject
to an investigation and hearing by the appointing authority, pursuant
to Charter Section 7-10.
A.
In order to ensure that accurate and timely information concerning
the administrative operations of the various town agencies is transmitted
effectively, the town officers and employees named in this chapter
are required to submit to the Town Manager reports when requested
by the Town Manager, which detail in summary form the various activities
of their department or division for the preceding period. Reports
will focus upon program and service delivery, financial expenditures,
achievement of performance standards, personnel actions and related
information.
B.
All town officers, town employees and multiple-member bodies
of the Town shall prepare annual reports of their activities and submit
the same to the Town Manager for inclusion in the annual report of
the Town, on or before the fourth Friday in July; provided, however,
that the Town Manager may extend such date to a date not later than
December 31 in any particular year. The annual report shall describe
fiscal year activities for the year ending each June 30. Where required
by state and/or federal regulations, certain boards shall submit copies
of their annual reports to appropriate state and/or federal agencies.
[Amended 10-24-2006 ATM, Art. 23]
[Amended 10-24-2006 ATM, Art. 23]
A.
Each multiple-member body shall, at a minimum, annually elect
from its membership, a Chair, Vice Chair and Clerk. Multiple-member
bodies may further elect a Treasurer and such other officer or officers
as are deemed necessary or as may be required by law. The annual election
shall occur in July of each year or immediately following the annual
appointment of members by the appointing authority. Each multiple-member
body shall forthwith following its annual organization and election
of officers file a report in the office of the Town Clerk on a form
approved by the Town Clerk.
B.
The Chair shall preside over all meetings of the multiple-member
body and is its official representative in all proceedings before
the Board of Selectmen and other officials of the Town. The Vice Chair
shall perform the Chair's functions, in the absence of the Chair.
The Clerk of the multiple-member body is responsible for the certification
of the multiple-member body's meeting minutes, observance of the Public
Records Law[1] and maintenance of other records of the multiple-member
body.
[Amended 10-24-2006 ATM, Art. 23]
The Clerk of each multiple-member body is responsible for notifying
the Town Clerk and the Board of Selectmen, annually, on or before
the first day of July, of the regularly scheduled meeting times and
dates for the ensuing fiscal year. The notification shall also include
a location for each regular meeting. This shall not prevent multiple-member
bodies calling special meetings in addition to those regularly scheduled,
provided that, in all instances, the requirements of the open meeting
law are followed. The Town Clerk shall ensure posting of all meeting
schedules, consistent with the Open Meeting Law.[1] No multiple-member body shall schedule a regular meeting
which conflicts with a regularly scheduled session of the Northbridge
Town Meeting.
[1]
Editor's Note: See MGL c. 39, § 23B.
[Amended 10-24-2006 ATM, Art. 23]
Each multiple-member body may establish subcommittees for the
purpose of addressing a particular issue. A report of the activities
of any such subcommittee shall regularly be made to the full multiple-member
body. Each subcommittee shall observe laws relevant to the keeping
of public records, the Open Meeting Law, and any other applicable
laws.
[Amended 10-24-2006 ATM, Art. 23]
A.
The delivery of services to the public requires coordination
and cooperation among the various departments. At the administrative
and operational level, managers shall seek to identify areas where
the various departments can assist each other in accomplishing of
their mission.
B.
The Town Manager shall meet, as necessary, with each of the
officers and employees listed in this chapter to discuss their activities,
to coordinate activities and to mitigate duplication of services where
possible. The Town Manager, in meetings with the said officers and
employees, shall develop action programs, evaluate program completion,
review management, financial, personnel and legal issues.
C.
The Chair of each multiple-member body shall annually, upon
election, meet with the Town Manager for the purpose of defining an
appropriate reporting relationship during the ensuing fiscal year.
The meeting should review the following minimum areas: frequency and
method of reporting, official or officials responsible for reporting,
transmittal of monthly and quarterly summaries of actions taken by
the multiple-member body and the role of the Board of Selectmen in
developing policies of interest to the multiple-member body.
A.
Multiple-member bodies may be:
(1)
Advisory: wherein the body has no legal authority to promulgate
rules or regulations, decide individual cases or enact policy;
(2)
Regulatory: wherein the body has legal authority to promulgate
rules and regulations, decide individual cases and enact policy;
(3)
Ministerial: wherein the body has legal authority to take actions
which are essentially administrative in nature; or
(4)
Combinations of advisory, regulatory and ministerial.
B.
Multiple-member bodies are defined in the manner noted.
[Amended 10-24-2006 ATM, Art. 23]
[Amended 10-24-2006 ATM, Art. 23]
Any registered voter of the Town, except a permanent full-time
municipal employee of the Town, is eligible to be appointed to any
multiple-member body of the Town. This limitation shall not prevent
a town employee from serving as a member of a multiple-member body
the functions of which are wholly unrelated to such persons municipal
employment. A town employee may also serve as member of a multiple-member
body when such service is specifically required as a representative
of a municipal agency.
[Amended 10-24-2006 ATM, Art. 23]
Certified copies of the minutes of all meetings of all multiple-member bodies shall be filed with the Town Clerk within five days following the next meeting of the multiple-member body after the meeting was held, at which meeting said minutes shall have been approved by the multiple-member body. The minutes of all executive sessions of multiple-member bodies shall be filed with the Town Clerk within five days following the date the minutes of those meetings are made public. This filing of minutes of meetings with the Town Clerk is for the convenience of the public. Such filing shall not be construed to be the official records of the multiple-member body. The official records shall continue to be maintained in the custody of the person designated pursuant to MGL c. 66, § 6. The minutes of all executive sessions of multiple-member bodies shall be approved at the next regular meeting of the multiple-member body and be kept by the Town Manager and members of the bodies until they are approved to be made public.
The references to state statutes which are contained in the
sections which follow (describing the powers, duties and responsibilities
of the town agencies) are provided for the purpose of describing the
broad scope of the authority and responsibility which may be exercised
by the Town of Northbridge with respect to each particular matter.
Such enumeration is not to be construed in any way as intended to
impose a limitation on the ability of the Town, pursuant to Article
5 of the Northbridge Home Rule Charter and MGL c. 43B, § 20,
to reassign powers, duties and responsibilities among and between
town agencies generally.
A.
Any plan proposed by the Town Manager which purports to be a
reorganization plan under Section 5-1(b) of the Northbridge Home Rule
Charter which does not contain a proposal in which is incorporated
amendments, revisions or repeals of this chapter and any other chapters
or provisions of this Code of Town bylaws as will accomplish the desired
reorganization shall not be deemed to be a reorganization plan within
the meaning of said Section 5-1(b).
B.
Each proposed reorganization plan filed by the Town Manager
shall bear an identifying number and shall be accompanied by a detailed
statement of the Town Manager explaining the reasons underlying the
submission of the proposed plan and the goals and objectives expected
to be achieved by implementation of the plan.
[Amended 10-24-2006 ATM, Art. 23]
C.
Each proposed reorganization plan shall make due provision for
the civil service status, seniority, retirement, and other rights
of Town employees as required by state statute, or collective bargaining
agreements.
[Amended 10-24-2006 ATM, Art. 23]
